Suominet efforts in the U.S. Southern Great Plains

SuomiNet is a university-based, real-time, national network of Global Positioning System (GPS) installations established in 2000 for geosciences research and education, with funding from the National Science Foundation and cost sharing from collaborating universities. The network exploits the ability of ground-based GPS receivers to make atmospheric measurements, including integrated water vapor. The University of Oklahoma, in partnership with the U.S. DOE Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program, is establishing geodetic quality SuomiNet receivers at 15 ARM extended facilities located throughout Oklahoma and Kansas and at one Oklahoma Mesonetwork weather station in central Oklahoma.

The establishment and scientific applicability of the SuomiNet sites within Oklahoma and Kansas will have several unique aspects. SuomiNet water vapor data will augment ARM's suite of water vapor measurements, which includes a GPS micronet centered on the site's central facility in northern Oklahoma, a number of microwave radiometers, a microwave profiler, a Raman lidar, an atmospheric emitted radiance interferometer, and radiosondes. The ability to conduct water vapor measurement intercomparison studies, perform instrument development, and conduct enhanced, short-term water vapor experiments over the region will be greatly enhanced by SuomiNet's dual-frequency GPS receivers. These high quality receivers, along with co-located surface data, will allow direct measurement of wet delay and, therefore, total slant-path water vapor. The average station spacing is 50-60 km, thus providing a meso-beta scale horizontal distribution of integrated precipitable water. One unique aspect of the ARM deployment will be the use of ruggedized laptop computers to collect the GPS data and push them to SuomiNet computers using local Internet Service Providers (ISPs). The University of Oklahoma's Center for the Analysis and Prediction of Storms will evaluate the potential of using the suite of water vapor measurements to improve the skill of numerical weather forecast models. University scientists will also use the data to conduct tectonic studies and perform three-dimensional mapping of lightning.